Monday, June 23,2008 @ 4:55pm
Time: iPhone 3G may be great boon to porn industry
The iPhone 3G may be a great aid to the pornography industry, writes Time. The current 2.5G unit is already said to popular with porn producers, due to its use of a desktop-like web browser, and better handling of video than most cellphones. "There are a few hundred iPhone porn sites now in use," says the VP of business development at AVN Media Network, Farley Cahen. Google Trends is meanwhile tracking a high use of the search term "iPhone porn."
More producers are said to be gearing up for the launch of the iPhone 3G, due on July 11th. The device will not only make downloading photos and videos more practical away from a Wi-Fi connection, it will reach an expanded audience, arriving in 70 or more countries by the end of the year. Because owners will be able to access porn via the web, they will also be able to circumvent any arbitrary ethics imposed by wireless carriers.
Apple does not condone iPhone pornography, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock, but it cannot stop people from accessing it in some means via Safari. The main safeguard will be the iPhone 2.0 firmware, which will enable parental controls; it is believed though that many parents may not know enough to enable these restrictions, and that children may be able to circumvent them anyway.